Abigail's Party (1977)

ABIGAIL'S PARTY features Beverly (Alison Steadman) a bitingly funny hostess of a dainty evening party at which her husband has the ultimate bad taste of having a heart attack on her new living room carpet. Unable to decide which is more important, her dying husband or her new, very expensive, carpet, Abigail must come to terms with where her true priorities lay. One of Mike Leigh's greatest works, ABIGAIL'S PARTY reaches a moment when the unbearable and hopeless fuse to create an explosion of incredible humor and tremendous insight into the state of human affairs. Product Description

A Scorcher

I absolutely love this movie/play. I once saw a very good stage production in New York, but nothing beats seeing Alison Steadman playing the monstrous Beverly ruling her roost.

It's a not-terribly-kind portrayal of suburban angst and tension among the classes in Britain circa the Queen's Jubilee.

Every scene boils with subtext, and you are gripping your seat wondering how this tinderbox will explode.

Very black comedy, and very astute about the rage and pain that lies behind those suburban doors. August 10, 2007

Abigail's Party

Based on a theater play produced for the BBC, Leigh's dark-humored situational farce examines a group of people feebly attempting to have a good time although they are all secretly miserable. As Beverly, Steadman (wife of the director) is aggressively jolly and controlling, not to mention drunk and openly flirtatious with Salthouse's simmering Tony. For every awkward moment, another drink is poured. This is an ensemble piece, and the interplay between the five actors, confined to a single living-room stage, is exquisitely handled by Leigh. Crash this "Party" for a harshly funny look at failed marriage and the cruelties of passive aggression. July 3, 2007

Abigal's Party

Awesome play. Saw it in London 2x. The DVD is nearly as enjoyable as the live performance.

Storyline reminds me a lot of Who's Affraid of Virginia Wolf. March 9, 2007

Small mind at work

This film and 'Life is Sweet' (I haven't seen any other Mike Leigh films) gave me a creeping feeling in my stomach. Mainly this was caused by the sheer stupidity of his working class characters. And I mean stupid - this is the fundamental message of these films, that working class people are thick. This stupidity leads to emotional crudeness and a total lack of warmth. I grew up in a working class family in London and this is not my main experience of the people. Yes, they could be direct (thank God!) but they were also often clever (note: not intellectual) and extremely supportive of family and friends. You have to ask yourself why this man keeps making films about a class of people he considers to be stupid and crude. If the subjects of his films were Jews or West Indians, there would be all hell to pay, and I don't suppose he would get screened. But film-makers and actors in this country are largely middle-class and will therefore quite happily support what appears to be a shared prejudice. And the actors aren't much better, with their horribly caricaturised (and largely unrealistic) accents. But I guess they enjoy getting their hands dirty with Leigh, especially if there's an award at the end of it, when they can turn up at the ceremony looking properly middle-class with educated accent restored, just in case anyone was under the impression they were actually like those awful people in the film. In short, there's a nasty, bitter mind at work behind these films, on a long quest, I suspect, to prove he's better than those ghastly Hollywood showmen by creating 'realistic' characters he can keep constrained in a sub-human fantasy world of his own creation.
November 11, 2005

5 Starts to Mike Leigh, 1 star to DVD

the conversation is purposely dull, yet it indeed sounds funny. this is the mike leigh's magic. the only disappointment about this piece is that the quality of the image is really poor. it feels like playing the video tape upon the vcr of 20 years of age. this, in a way, does make you feel like you are watching a 70's programme, perhaps. October 17, 2005

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